Wild Fall to Anaheim Saturday Afternoon in St. Paul

The Minnesota Wild (31-20-7) lost to the visiting Anaheim Ducks (29-20-11) 3-2 this afternoon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, following the longest post-regulation shootout in Wild team history.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first, and the Wild had a 2-1 lead after two. The Ducks tied the game in the third period, with the score even at 2-2 at the end of the third. What followed regulation was an 11 round, 22 shooter shootout -- eventually won by Anaheim.

Devan Dubnyk stopped 8 of 11 Ducks during the shootout, but Anaheim's John Gibson was one better, stopping 9 of 11 Wild shooters.

The longest shootout in NHL history went 20 rounds in December of 2014 when the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals.

Scoring for Minnesota today came from Mikko Koivu (9) in the first period, followed by Jason Zucker (23) in the second. The Wild out-shot Anaheim 38-31.

The win leapfrogs the Ducks into the third Pacific Division playoff spot, allowing the Wild to retain the final Wild Card position in the Western Conference.

Western Conference Wild Card Standings

NHL.com

Matinees are fairly rare in the NHL, but the Wild come off today's afternoon game only to have an even rarer weekday matinee on Monday (Presidents Day) against the NY Islanders in Brooklyn, New York. The puck drops at Noon CT (TV: Fox Sports North Plus, Radio: 1240 WJON).

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